week in June for Donovan and Natalie’s wedding. After the wedding he’d been invited to join Donovan’s six cousins from Phoenix, his godbrothers as well as another good friend, Bronson Scott, for a night on the town. But the only night he’d wanted was in Farrah’s bed, and as soon as the wedding reception had ended, he hadn’t wasted any time going to her hotel room. And then a week later she had ended things between them.
Now they were both back in New York, and he would give anything for a repeat performance of what they’d shared the last time, although he knew doing so would be asking for trouble. And speaking of trouble, he pulled the cell phone from his pocket to call Beth to cancel his late night visit. He really didn’t consider his time with Beth a “date,” so he really hadn’t lied to Farrah when she’d asked about it. As far as his mind and body were concerned, there was only one woman who had total control of his thoughts right now.
He leaned back and glanced around. This was a nice hotel, drenched in all kinds of history and decorated to the nines in elegance. He bet a lot of romantic trysts took place within these walls. He could see himself spending the night in one of those rooms upstairs if Farrah was so inclined. They would make love all night. He would make damn sure of it.
He reached down for his briefcase, and after placing it across his lap, he opened it up and pulled out a file. He might as well try to concentrate on something other than getting into Farrah’s body and then hearing her scream after pumping her into an orgasm.
Moments later, after reading over several reports, he glanced beyond the huge glass doors and saw it had gotten dark outside already. He had a private car at his disposal twenty-four hours a day, but since the restaurant was just a block away there was no reason for them not to walk.
He closed his files, deciding to think about the eleven months he and Farrah had spent together after all, since his concentration was at an all-time low. She hadn’t wanted a big deal made about their affair, so they hadn’t made one. Although neither had announced it or flaunted it, he had been aware that his friends and hers suspected they were involved. But not at first.
Of course her best friend, Natalie, had known, which meant Donovan hadn’t been clueless. And Cameron had known he was seeing some woman on a regular basis. His friend had never inquired as to whom, and Xavier had never openly shared the information.
His godbrothers—although they’d known he was sniffing real bad behind some woman—hadn’t officially met her until Donovan’s wedding. After that, they’d grilled him about why he’d gone to such pains to keep her a secret. And then he’d had to quickly spread the word at the wedding among the single men that she was taken after one of Donovan’s cousins from Phoenix had tried hitting on her.
What he couldn’t explain to anyone, least of all to himself, was the degree of possessiveness he felt toward Farrah. He’d felt the need to keep her all to himself and not share her or her time with anyone. Whenever he’d traveled on business, he’d found himself looking forward to returning to Charlotte to spend time with her. They had developed a routine and rarely ventured out beyond the walls of her house, preferring to remain inside—namely in the bedroom. That was the way they’d both wanted it. For some reason they’d enjoyed being detached from the outside world whenever they were together.
Showing up at her place, usually after eight at night, with his bottle of wine, had become the norm whenever he was in town, and they would often joke about it. He knew the wine was the reason she’d figured he was about to make a booty call tonight, and she had been right.
But what Farrah didn’t know was that he hadn’t been sexually involved with a woman since her, and Beth would have only been a substitute for the one woman he truly wanted. The woman he was sitting in the lobby waiting for at that very moment.
As if he conjured her, the elevator door opened, and Farrah stepped out. He blinked as he stared at her. She was wearing a long coat so he couldn’t see her outfit, but just seeing her made his erection spring to life. He was grateful his briefcase was still placed across his lap, and he kept it strategically placed in front of him when he stood, trying to get control of his mind and body.
“You look nice, Farrah,” he said, reaching for his coat on the sofa beside him.
“Thanks. If you’d like, you can leave your briefcase and wine at the front desk until we return, or I can take it back up to my room,” she said sliding her hands into a pair of black leather gloves.
He preferred her taking it back up to her room so he’d have an excuse to go up there when they got back. Or he could go back up to her room with her now to leave the items. But if he were to follow her up to her hotel room, that would be asking for trouble. Seeing Farrah made him realize just how much he’d missed her. How much he still wanted her.
“I can leave them at the front desk. That’s no problem,” he heard himself saying, knowing that was the best option.
“You sure?”
Yes, he was sure—if she wanted to keep her clothes on for the rest of the night. “Yes, I’m sure. Ready to go?”
She nodded. “Yes.”
Together they strolled over to the front desk, and he completed a claim slip for his belongings. Moments later they were walking through the hotel’s glass door to exit the building. The temperature had dropped dramatically, and the cold air seemed to blast down on them the moment they stepped onto the sidewalk.
“Wow, it’s freezing out here,” Farrah said, tightening her leather coat around her.
Instead of responding, on instinct Xavier wrapped his arms around her waist to bring her closer to his side. The moment he touched her, a shot of something akin to hot liquid fire exploded through his veins and he nearly groaned out loud. But he kept his arms around her to share his heat, grateful for his own wool coat. However, nothing could stop his reaction to the feel of her being plastered to his body.
That made him remember how it was being skin to skin with her while they made love, sliding in and out of her body, feeling her moist heat clench him in a way that could make him moan out her name.
She didn’t look over at him. Instead she stared straight ahead. He didn’t have a problem with that; in fact, he much preferred it. If their gazes were to connect now, he would be tempted to take her mouth and to tongue her right in the middle of the sidewalk.
He decided talking would be much safer, so he asked, “Warmer now?”
She nodded. “Yes and thanks. We have cold weather back in Charlotte, but this seems to be a different kind of cold. I’m even wearing an extra layer of clothing.”
Telling him what she had on her body wasn’t helping matters, he thought, especially when he was having visions of her not wearing anything at all. He always enjoyed seeing her naked. But then her clothing was known to be sexy as well. He recalled arriving one night when she’d worked late at the office and she’d been wearing a two-piece suit. She’d looked professional as well as sensual.
Even now he couldn’t help wondering what she was wearing underneath her long coat. All he could see was a nice pair of chocolate-colored suede boots.
“Is the restaurant far?” she interrupted his thoughts to ask.
He smiled, hearing the shiver in her voice. His woman was cold. He frowned. He’d never thought of any female as “his woman” before. That had definitely been a slip of the senses.
“No, in fact it’s right on the corner. Otherwise, I would have called for a car. However, I did call ahead and make reservations while you were upstairs getting dressed.”
“Good. I could eat a horse about now.”
And he could eat her. Pushing that thought out of his mind, he tried dwelling on what she said. One of the things he’d always liked about Farrah was that she had no problems filling her plate with the takeout he’d bring with him to her place. How she managed to stay in such fantastic shape was beyond him. She had the kind of curves that would make any man take a second look and moan, then take another look and